RULES IMPOSED ON NURSERY TEACHERS... A BIT OTT? sorry rant

[MrsBigD]

we had our parent interview at the nurserie dd will go to soon for 2.5h a day yesterday and it seems a very nice place, with the teacher and the nurse being absolutely charming and down to earth.

One thing that utterly baffeled me was to find out the reason why they want kids potty trained an to be able to dress themselves... they're not allowed to 'interfere' with them and are actually not even supposed to touch them at all, i.e. not even holding hands or cuddling them to comfort them (which they don't quite adhere to as kids need to be comforted)! All this is for fear of 'molestation accusations'.

IMHO this is taking being PC way to far. If I were a nursery teacher I'd probably be insulted by this rule as imho it sort of implies that everybody is a suspected potential pervert. What a great vote of confidence that is! NOT!

DD just turned 3 and she's sort of potty trained and very apt at getting her clothes off... good luck to them though once she does pe as well... getting chaned twice should make it interesting. I better invest into some clothes with velcro!

Rant over

mrsbigd, don't waste your time. I am an american and very very good at complaining and harrassing people, but really did meet my match in ealing council. I spent a year trying to find out about childminder's networks and eventually found the ONE childminder network coordinator in ealing who had absolutely no idea where her funding was coming from and who I could complain to about getting more childminder network coordinators funded. And talk about nuts...they only offer 2.5 hours per day nursery places in ealing...and they're supposed to be helping/encouraging mothers back to work. I've just had to cut my work hours because I can't manage the pickup schedule and financial drain.

SofiaAmes...

Don't get me started on the 2.5h free nursery + 'encouraging mums to go back to work'... VERY sore point here... atm I have to seriously consider becoming a SAHM because childcare for both my kids would cost more than I'd be earning when returning from maternity leave! [ggggggggggggggrrrrrrrrrrrr]

As for Ealing Council being useless... yep you're absolutely right And I've got first hand info... I used to temp there for 6 months and despite of being 'the temp' I was one of the few capable ones in the team (sometimes seemed like the only capable one actually)!

p.s. the growl is directed at the daycare situation not you

I think the 'no touching' rule seems to be enforced (or not) by individual school policy. I've worked in three schools, and all have been fine about physical contact. I suppose it was left up to the individual adult, and the Heads were fine in trusting their staff's professionalism eg. not doing anything inappropriate. I would not work in a school that didn't allow touching. As a nursery teacher I constantly had children needing reassuring hugs, or hugs of delight, or hands being held. I strongly feel it's all part of a small child's personal, social and emotional development, being openly demonstrative with familiar and trusted adults. I would happily change a child if they needed it.

I do know of a lot of teachers who simply feel too vunerable and unprotected by our new litigation obsessed society to happily hug or change children. There have been some awful cases where false accusations of inappropriate touching have ended people's careers and ruined their lives. Some parents can also be very anti any form of physical contact.

I do think that at the same time small children need to be taught how to use strong verbal messages when things are happening that they don't like or feel uncomfortable with.

Good for you MrsBigD

But surely leaving a child in soiled pants for a certain amount of time is in itself open to legal action?

If I found out that my child had been left in shit for 4 hours, I'd lodge a formal complaint and if I got no joy from it, I might well go see a solicitor. Call me judgemental, but imo if you think it's OK to leave a child for any amount of time in a soiled nappy or pants, then you're not fit to look after your own child, let alone mine. (Although, I can't imagine my particular child would tolerate it - she'd take her pants off and run around with an alarmingly naked bottom demanding that someone clean her up! )

Is it a case of damned if they do, damned if they don't?

yeah i think it's a case of 'damned if...'.

dd would also just strip down I think, as she did yesterday (and that's with dry clothes but then they probably get flustered because she 'naked' OMG

I work in a privatw nursery for 2-5 year olds. We are allowed to give the children a cuddle when they are upset and we do change them when necessary. We are inspected regulary and the inspector is happy with this.
We are not supposed to put sun cream on the children but have to ask the parents to bring sun spray which we can spray on to the children than thay are expeted to rub it in themselves. I think this is a silly rule as some of the children are only just to and have not got the co]ordination to do this.

Although children need to be protected from inappropriate contact, I think that a nursery that fails to meet children's basic emotional and hygiene needs is not really providing an adequate standard of childcare.

I finally got a reply from STANDARDS & LEGISLATION department of
THE SURE START UNIT!

Schools have a common law duty to care for children. This duty, amongst other things, means that teachers are required to act in a way which is appropriate. As a general principle staff must not make gratuitous physical contact with their pupils so that their actions are not misconstrued by a pupil, parent or observer. However, DfES guidance to schools also recognises that there may be occasions where a distressed pupil needs comfort and reassurance which may include physical comforting such as a caring parent would give. Young children and children with special educational needs may need staff to provide physical prompts or help. This could include helping children when they need to go to the toilet. It is expected that staff should use their discretion in such cases to ensure that what is normal and natural does not become unnecessary and unjustified contact, particularly with the same pupil over a period of time.

Although the DfES provides this advice, headteachers and governors are required to set their own policies on what teachers can and can't do in relation to physical contact with children. If you continue to have concerns about this issue in relation to your daughter, you will need to take it up with them.

Unquote

Gotta love the art of writing heaps and sounding completely non-committal

sounds very much like a case of passing the buck.... i.e. "not my problem mate, it is up to individual x to decide and however they decide to construe the guideline has nothing to do with me." typical!